ABU DHABI, (Pakistan Point News - 20th Dec, 2021) A musical performance by the world-renowned DJ and producer David Guetta on New Year's Eve will take place at Louvre Abu Dhabi, with fans around the world to be able to watch the pre-recorded show online on 1 January 2022 at midnight UAE Time.
Speaking to the Emirates news Agency (WAM), Guetta explained that his choice to perform the New Year’s Eve concert from Louvre Abu Dhabi was to "show gratitude" to the country he calls his second home.
"Being French and at the same time a UAE resident, it was making a lot of sense [to perform here] ... to show gratitude. My music has always been about bringing people together, bringing communities together and I feel that the best example we can find is in Abu Dhabi or even in Dubai where you have 200 different nationalities living together in harmony. That is incredible," Guetta said in an interview at Louvre Abu Dhabi.
This is not the first time the French DJ chooses to perform his New Year's Eve concert at the Louvre. At the end of 2020, Guetta had performed at the Musée du Louvre in Paris.
"I am from Paris. Louvre is the most iconic museum in France and to me it’s so incredible that there is a Louvre in Abu Dhabi too. It really does not matter what your religion is, where you are coming from, what your nationality is, we are all human beings and music is such a universal language," he said.
"Look at this country, the way it has been built with the vision of great leaders, and the will of people coming here for a better life. I think this is beautiful."
The pre-recorded show will feature a purpose-built floating stage constructed in the waters surrounding the iconic Louvre Abu Dhabi, captured by drones. It combines music with a light show and integrates projections of masterpieces from Louvre Abu Dhabi’s collections.
"I made specific records just for the show, using Arabic instruments and vocal samples. I’m trying to take people on a journey and mix between my culture, more electronic European, with some oriental inspiration," Guetta explained.
The musical performance will be accompanied by 20-metre-high flames that will shoot into the night sky, perfectly choreographed to complement the DJ’s set. Generated by more than 500 light fixtures located around the floating stage, Louvre Abu Dhabi’s dome and the surrounding water, the world-class light show will also feature the visualisations of masterpieces from the Louvre collection, including Georges de la Tour’s Girl Blowing on a Brazier (c. 1646 – 1648 CE), Mirror with Taoist Divinities (201 – 400 CE), Carved Panel from the Umayyad Period (10th century) among others.
"I did visit the museum. It was so interesting to see so many similarities between different civilisations following the chronology in time and history," Guetta said. "The show is looking crazy. The production is huge. It’s really looking unbelievable."
He explained that the show will be broadcast on YouTube, as well as on his and Louvre Abu Dhabi’s social media channels.
Earlier this year, David Guetta has performed from Burj Al Arab Helipad for his charity event "United at Home," a series of virtual concerts that raise funds for COVID-19 relief.
"The whole thing [launching United at Home] started in Miami. I needed to find something, first to have fun, because this is what I love to do, and second, to help people stay home. I was collecting money for people in need and giving meals for people who did not have enough to eat. We’ve collected a few millions and we’ve been able to give millions of meals around the world," Guetta said.
The charity event started from a poolside in Miami to raise money for COVID-19 relief; it then continued with the livestream from New York City’s Rock Observation Deck at Rockefeller Centre, Musée du Louvre in Paris, and lastly from Burj Al Arab helipad.
"I will continue 'United at Home,' I just need to think of how. I’m even thinking of more like advanced technologies like avatars and augmented reality. So many things that we can do," Guetta added.
